This Model's 'Squinty Eyed' Photo Caused A PR Nightmare For Hollister In Korea

Hollister has caused quite a stir in South Korea. The American clothing brand recently opened its first store in the country, but that’s not what’s attracting all the attention.Models who were visiting Korea to promote the store’s opening took pictures that have caused a PR nightmare for the brand.

“Images of models making ‘squinty eyes’ faces, flipping their middle finger to photographers, and mocking Asian pronunciation of English appeared on their Twitter accounts,” writes Lee Hyung-Ju at koreaBANG.

Word got out in a hurry. The big Korean publications picked up the story, locals flocked online to call for a boycott and some particularly angry people found the models’ personal details and let everyone know.

“In summary, the company terminated the couple of associates involved. On behalf of our more than 80,000 associates around the world who cherish our core values and our culture of diversity and inclusion, we sincerely apologise for the offence caused by these unauthorised, ill-considered actions.”